LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO

The acclaimed Russian soprano’s brilliantly sung, sensitively acted heroine makes the new-to-Chicago production of “Lucia di Lammermoor” a must-see. She commands a bright, focused sound, remarkably agile, yet big and penetrating, capable of the most delicate dynamic shadings. Her legato line is supple, her diminuendos ravishing, with a vocal compass that extends from a luscious low range to an easy, gleaming top. The diva earned herself several well-deserved, thunderous ovations. It’s good to know Lyric has big plans for her in the coming seasons.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

The Russian soprano’s silvery, high instrument is ideal for this repertory, and Shagimuratova sang with easy agility and faultless intonation, even in Donizetti’s most stratospheric passages…she rose to the challenge of the Mad Scene in supreme style, spinning off the high-flying roulades and coloratura runs with striking accuracy and security, while touchingly conveying Lucia’s shattered psyche and confused thoughts and memories.

CHICAGO CLASSICAL REVIEW

This was my first hearing of Albina Shagimuratova, and I came away ightily impressed with the sheer beauty of her glistening soprano and her power and stamina to be singing just as well in the Mad Scene as she had in her first. Hers is one of those voices that one wants to call silvery and liquid, tossing off the role’s highest notes with ease. She had terrific coloratura fireworks in her opening scene, “Regnava nel silenzio… Quando rapito in estasi”, met with a huge ovation…

PARTERRE

Amid tragic power of Lyric Opera’s ‘Lucia,’ Shagimuratova touches the soul of bel canto … Vick’s smart production is a canny frame for the staggeringly talented Shagimuratova, who is a consummate exemplar of the coloratura art, with a breathtaking pianissimo and thrilling agility and volume at the bottom and the top. There is abundant drama in Shagimuratova’s radiant voice, gravity in her poise. Her approach is completely authoritative.

CHICAGO ON THE AISLE

As I have said many times, it is impossible to stage a successful Bel Canto opera
without a super prima donna, and that is especially true of “Lucia di Lammermoor.” Fortunately, Lyric obtained the services of soprano Albina Shagimuratova, who not only sang the role brilliantly, but who presented a very believable Lucia, a figure for whom the audience was obviously very sympathetic. In her first big aria, “Regnava nel silenzio,” and with her singing in the duet with Edgardo, Ms Shagimuratova won the audience over easily. But it was the Act 3 “Mad Scene” that brought the crowd to its feet with a well deserved atypical Lyric audience ovation. For the prima donna had met the most severe challenge there is to wicked coloratura difficulties. I personally was thrilled by her trills — real ones! — which most sopranos, even good ones, just fob off. I was also happy to hear her interpolate the (unwritten) high D-flat at the end of the Great Sextet.

FIRA NOI

SEMIRAMIDE – BBC PROMS FESTIVAL, ROYAL ALBERT HALL

(Semiramide) isn’t a creature, you might think, who could engage our sympathy. Yet that’s reckoning without the extraordinary gifts of the Russian soprano Albina Shagimuratova, the leading glory of Sunday’s lustrous concert performance. Shagimuratova’s voice appears to have no weak spots in tone, technique or strength: she was singing as thrillingly at nearly 11 o’clock as she had been when she swept in at 7.15, brazen in yellow, every inch a queen. High-altitude vocal flourishes poured out, unending. Acting skills too. Hands hid the face in horror, body and voice stood prayerful with remorse: how could we not take Semiramide to heart?

LONDON TIMES

In the title role was Albina Shagimuratova demonstrating that for sheer technique she has few rivals in this repertoire. The voice is rich yet bright over a huge range, and she has all the coloratura dazzle needed for the role’s fireworks allied to an ability to draw the listener in for the more reflective passages.

CLASSICAL SOURCE

The Russian soprano Albina Shagimuratova took the title-role for the first time – her bright, starry soprano, suited to the dazzle of the Queen of the Night, isn’t a natural match for the darker emotions of the tormented Semiramide, but after a weak start she opened up in “Bel raggio” and went on to produce vibrant and golden tone, shaped into fluently expressive phrases.

The Telegraph09 September 2016

Albina Shagimuratova dazzled in the title role with her high-lying coloratura.

Tim Ashley, The Guardian05 September 2016

Russian coloratura soprano Albina Shagimuratova was as lustrous as her dazzling gown in the demanding role of Semiramide…It’s an ample, bright, aristocratic voice, filling the Albert Hall with ease. Bravura top notes were executed with fearless laser-like accuracy in a ravishing “Bel raggio lusinghier”, her showpiece Act I aria.

BACKTRAK

This isn’t a creature, you might think, who could engage our sympathy. Yet that’s reckoning without the music’s beauty and bel canto thrills, or the extraordinary gifts of the Russian soprano Albina Shagimuratova, the leading glory of Sunday’s lustrous concert performance. Shagimuratova’s voice appears to have no weak spots in tone, technique or strength: she was singing as thrillingly at nearly 11 o’clock as she had been when she swept in at 7.15, brazen in yellow, every inch a queen. High-altitude vocal flourishes poured out, unending.

Geoff Brown, The Times05 September 2016

Albina Shagimuratova’s delicately-inflected incarnation of the title role was the most perfect coloratura performance I have ever heard at the Royal Albert Hall.

ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA

The virtuosic runs, leaps and trills of Konstanze’s arias held no terrors for Ms. Shagimuratova. She offered a memorable and fiery rendition of “Martern Aller Arten,” a ferociously difficult showstopper that also requires delicate balancing with the orchestral part.

NEW YORK TIMES

Albina Shagimuratova is a jaw-dropping technician in Konstanze’s elaborate solos.

THE NEW YORKER

As Konstanze, Shagimuratova gives a powerful performance, tossing off the runs and trills with an ease that is nothing short of awesome. She delivered a stunning Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflote at the Met few seasons back and her “Martern aller Arten” aria in Die Entfuhrung is no less spectacular.

Shagimuratova was the magnetic center of the performance. Her arias grabbed the attention with their high runs and turns, then held it with a mesmerizing expression of character and feeling. This was especially true in “Marten aller Arten,” which received one of the finest performances this listener has ever heard.

NEW YORK CLASSICAL REVIEW

Albina Shagimuratova brought strength and flexibility to Konstanze’s arias – her sadness at having lost her beloved Belmonte expressed first to Selim and then to Blonde, and later daring Selim to subject her to torture (‘Marten aller Arten’).

CLASSICAL SOURCE

The vocal standout of the cast is Albina Shagimuratova’s Konstanze, who has the most memorable music and makes the most of it.

EPOCH TIMES

In her first starring role at the Met after two runs as the stratospheric Queen of the Night in “Die Zauberflöte,” the Russian soprano Albina Shagimuratova reached Lucia’s highest notes with crystalline ease.

2015

The highest accolades go to Albina Shagimuratova as the Queen of the Night… She has real presence; this was an exceptional performance. ‘Der Hölle Rache’ was a revelation combining sumptuousness, subtlety and accuracy in the execution of every note, and demonstrating impeccable phrasing.

Sam Smith, Music OMН2015

San Francisco Opera’s “Lucia di Lammermoor”─ Soprano Albina Shagimuratova subs as Lucia and is spectacular!
The footnotes for Russian soprano Albina Shagimuratova’s fall 2015 season at San Francisco Opera (SFO) might read “The Queen rises,” affirming that the last minute drama that occurs behind the scenes in opera can be as exhilarating as what we see on stage.
Shagimuratova, who most recently sang Lucia at the Metropolitan Opera in 2014-15, did more than seize the moment─she was on fire. She took us all along with her on Lucia’s tumultuous descent from fragility into madness and executed the famous third act Mad Scene with mesmerizing finesse.

Art Hound2015

Met Opera: Shagimuratova Goes Brilliantly Mad In ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’
The roster of sopranos who have sung Lucia to stake their claim to bel canto credentials is long — Pons, Melba, Callas and Sutherland to name just a few from the past, and more recently at the Met, Natalie Dessay, Diana Damrau and Anna Netrebko.
Shagimuratova can join the list. She is apprehensive in her opening aria “Regnava nel silenzio” as she recounts seeing the ghost of a woman who was murdered near the fountain where she waits to meet Edgardo. Then when her thoughts turn to Edgardo, she beams and sings like a woman in love, full of joy and with silvery runs in “Quando, rapito in estasi.
The role is a demanding one, especially in the Mad Scene, a long passage of vocal dexterity that is one of the most liltingly lovely yet desperate pieces of music in all opera. Shagimuratova, singing in only her second role at the Met, hits every note squarely with ringing brilliance, and with only a solo flute for accompaniment, exquisitely played by Stefan Ragnar Hoskuldsson, evokes all the pathos of a deranged mind struggling with an ill-fated love.

Wilborn Hampton, Huffpost arts & cultureMay 2015

Metropolitan Opera Review 2015: “Lucia di Lammermoor: Great Singing All-Around from Albina Shagimuratova”.
While the men got headlines for some heroic feats, it was Albina Shagimuratova who made her own waves with some of the most polished singing the Met has seen in quite some time. Every single line flowed and rang with ease. The phrasing was fluid, with every crescendo and diminuendo providing its own musical narrative. Her singing during the opening aria “Regnava nel silenzio” started off quietly but grew gradually with the intensity of the narrative until her voice climaxed in a glorious high note that slowly withered and faded. There was a delicacy in the delivery that immediately made her Lucia’s weakness clear for the audience.

David Salazar (Latin Post)2015

2014

In the title role, Russian soprano Albina Shagimuratova was hardly a stereotypically frail dramatic pushover. She was a dominant force, first among a cast of equals, as she reined in her power to skillfully delineate Lucia’s increasing isolation and mental decline, seeming as fresh vocally in her climactic 16-minute mad scene as she was at the beginning of the opera. Perhaps she could have gone on for another virtuosic quarter-hour. She earned the thunderous ovation she got at its end.

Los Angeles Times2014

2013

DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE AT ROYAL OPERA HOUSE, APRIL 2013

With Albina Shagimuratova’s Queen of Night: every note is luminescent, star-bright and perfectly placed in the constellation.

Hilary Finch, The Times of LondonApril 18, 2013

The highest accolades go to Albina Shagimuratova as the Queen of the Night… she has real presence; this was an exceptional performance.

Sam Smith, Music OMHApril 18, 2013

Albina Shagimuratova’s show-stealing Queen of the Night is electrifyingly accurate…

Tim Ashley, The GuardianApril 18, 2013

In Albina Shagimuratova, the superb Russian soprano who was making her Lyric debut as Gilda, the company has found a shining star indeed. She walked away with the show. Gilda is, of course, one of the great coloratura soprano roles in Italian opera, and Shagimuratova fulfilled its every requirement thrillingly. She traced the florid phrases of ‘Caro nome’ with meltingly expressive phrasing, ample colorings and a clear, shining, beautiful sound that carried easily over the orchestra. Where full-bodied lyricism was needed, notably in Gilda’s two duets with her father, her singing went straight to the heart. Indeed, Gilda’s dying fade to a hushed pianissimo held the audience at rapt attention at the very end. Not for nothing did the soprano receive a rapturous standing ovation on opening night. Get used to the name; you can be sure Lyric will be inviting her back.

John von Rhein, Chicago TribuneFebruary 2013

2012

THE MAGIC FLUTE AT THE SAN FRANCISCO OPERA

The audience favorite, though, was Russian soprano Albina Shagimuratova, in a bravura company debut as the Queen of the Night. She did well in her Act 1 aria, then brought down the house with a dazzling, pinpoint delivery of the Act 2 showpiece.

Joshua Kosman, San Francisco ChronicleJune 15, 2012

Shagimuratova is simply breathtaking. Forceful and vehement in her lower range, she is remarkably, strong, focused, and spot on as she ascends to a high F above high C. She may not sound vengeful in the stratosphere, but she produces the Queen’s highest notes with a round, glowing brilliance you will be lucky to experience again in your lifetime. You absolutely must hear her.

Jason Victor Serinus, San Francisco Classical VoiceJune 13, 2012

LA TRAVIATA AT THE HOUSTON GRAND OPERA

Coming up through the ranks of HGO’s studio program, soprano Albina Shagimuratova, like mezzo Joyce DiDonato, is a success story and house favorite. A natural coloratura, she can blaze through signature roles like Mozart’s treacherously thrilling Queen of the Night in Magic Flute or early Verdi’s warbler Gilda in Rigoletto. She can toss off high Fs with flawless technique, silkily maneuvering through rollercoaster roulades as if skiing blindfolded. There’s no denying the beauty of her voice

D.L. Groover, Houston Press June 15, 2012

Friday night at Houston Grand Opera the unforgettable voice belonged to Russian soprano Albina Shagimuratova as Violetta Valéry. Program notes describe her as “today’s reigning Queen of the Night” in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. She certainly reigned on the Wortham stage, Mozart or not, winning a heady standing ovation at the curtain call. If you saw her last year in HGO’s Lucia di Lammermoor, you know the experience. Shagimuratova’s Verdi, however, is just as thrilling as her Donizetti, perhaps even more. Shagimuratova changes voice and character as necessary to the action unfolding in each act, from a party gal at the beginning to a vulnerable wisp of half-dead beauty at the end.

Theodore Bale for Houston Culture Map

Shagimuratova imbues Violetta with a tragic dignity befitting a heroine of indomitable spirit and all-too-vulnerable flesh…she is spirited and worldly–yet always aware of the dark shadow waiting to engulf her. The more duress Violetta is under, the more impressive her performance grows. Shagimuratova’s powerful soprano conveys Violetta’s passions with its clean placement, precise intonation, agility in decorative passages and sheer splendor in emotional outpourings. Her artful pianissimo is heart-piercing – its brief use in an early scene foreshadowing the sustained pathos she achieves in Act 3. She distinguishes herself in Violetta’s big moments: her double aria expressing her conflicted emotions at the close of Act 1, her sorrowful realization that she must acquiesce to the elder Germont’s demands in Act 2, her exquisitely shaped aria bidding farewell to life in Act 3 and her final moments whose feverish swings from hope to despair would wring tears from stone. Vocally and dramatically, the performance is a genuine tour de force.

Everett Evans, Houston ChronicleJanuary 31, 2012

RIGOLETTO AT THE SAN FRANCISCO OPERA

[Albina] projects spectacularly, as few singers can. Her bright, rich voice filled the huge War Memorial in a seemingly effortless performance; she even sang her big, challenging aria “Caro nome” reclining on her back. ‘When you’ve got it, flaunt it,’ said the gesture.

…there was a rise to what may have been a high A that was so round, sweet, and perfectly placed as to win over the strongest curmudgeon. Equally astonishing was her little trick of singing the last section of the aria flat on her back.. .the biggest applause was for Shagimuratova’s ‘Caro nome.

SF Classical VoiceSeptember, 2012

2011

Baby faced and clarion voiced, Ms. Shagimuratova was a riveting Lucia, her flighty mad scene the stuff of nightmares.

The performance confirmed that soprano Albina Shagimuratova is a phenomenon that must be heard to be believed: she demonstrated total but seemingly effortless control of pitch over her vast range, a rich and vibrant sound no matter how high the pitch, and the most delicate of soft notes. And then there was her extraordinary trill; a particularly long one enticingly gained its momentum very slowly and, once at full speed, faded just as slowly into silence. Nor did her singing come at the expense of her acting: convincingly crazed during the Act III mad scene, Shagimuratova twirled atop a banquet table, lasciviously caressed a horrified wedding guest and squirmed on her back while pouring out bel canto embellishments.

Opera NewsVol. 75, No. 10, April 2011

Russian coloratura soprano Albina Shagimuratova’s expertly sung, sympathetically acted Lucia proves a compelling center for Houston Grand Opera’s new production – no more so than in her spine-tinglingly brilliant realization of Lucia’s explosion, dissolution and collapse in her showcase mad scene, centerpiece of the gripping final act and climax of the entire opera. … Shagimuratova’s Lucia is less overtly dramatic and more subdued that many past Lucias, especially at the start, stressing this young innocent’s gentleness and vulnerability. She wields her opulent voice with remarkable proficiency, dexterity and fluidity, but also a poetic soulfulness. When vocal lines call for ornamentation, Shagimuratova responds with grace and seeming spontaneity. Her delicate and precise pianissimo is particularly distinguished, casting a complete hush.

Everett Evans, Houston ChronicleFebruary 1, 2011

But the performance to watch is Albina Shagimuratova’s as Donna Anna. In only her third season as a professional, she tops the cast for bold projection, and singing with feeling. The rest suffer as in a charade; with Shagimuratova the pain’s real.

Geoff Brown, The Times

LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR AT THE HOUSTON GRAND OPERA

Albina Shagimuratova is impeccably passionate as Lucia, her perfectly placed coloratura thrillingly seducing us with every expressive note, beginning with her Act I aria ‘Quando rapito in estasi’ and ending with her Act III mad scene (the famous ‘Spargi d’amaro pianto’ ), which is a masterpiece that is well worth waiting for… Ms. Shagimuratova’s sublime acting and supreme singing provide us with the motive…to sit at her feet as she sings us through the gates of heaven.

Buzz Bellmont, Houston Chronicle “Chron Commons”January 30, 2011

The greatest compliment to Albina Shagimuratova is to say that she belongs in yet another trilogy: with Callas and Sutherland as three great Lucias. Her beautifully confident aria in the second scene of the first act (‘Regnava nel silenzio’) was evidence alone; her mad scene in the third act (‘Il dolce suone, spargi d’amaro piant’) confirmed it. In particular, the cadenza passages with flute accompaniment, delivered while she stood on a wooden table dragging a 20-foot long tablecloth, caused me to tremble.

Theodore Bale, Culture Map HoustonJanuary 29, 2011

DON GIOVANNI AT THE GLYNDEBOURNE FESTIVAL, MAY 2011

But the performance to watch is Albina Shagimuratova’s as Donna Anna. In only her third season as a professional, she tops the cast for bold projection, and singing with feeling. The rest suffer as in a charade; with Shagimuratova the pain’s real.

Another Glyndebourne debutant, practised Queen of the Night Albina Shagimuratova, wins over the audience with her vocal warmth as Donna Anna.

David Gutman for The Stage

In fact this revival is more strongly cast than the original was. Albina Shagimuratova sings the bereaved Donna Anna with a pure-toned expressiveness which Toby Spence’s Don Ottavio matches gracefully.

2009

We can start with the triumphs, namely Russian soprano Albina Shagimuratova’s Queen of the Night. A Tchaikovsky Competition winner (2007) she made her professional debut in this role under Riccardo Muti at Salzburg just four months ago. It’s a showstopping role, technically grueling and cruelly exposed (that’s Mozart for you), and Shagimuratova owned it. ‘Der Holle Racht’ was precision cut, all rage and exactitude, nothing shrill, no strain, an even purity even at the extremes of the register.

Peter Lefevre, Orange County RegisterJanuary 13, 2009

RIGOLETTO AT THE HOUSTON GRAND OPERA

Gilda, as sung by soprano and HGO Studio alumna Albina Shagimuratova, offered redemption. Shagimuratova’s performance was nothing short of spectacular, bringing a spectrum of vocal colors that reflected Gilda’s differing moods, from naïve innocence to passionate exuberance. Each time she brought out an astonishingly high, or powerful, or quiet note, she seemed to come back with something higher, or more powerful, or poignantly quieter still. Her performance of ‘Caro nome’ elicited unintended but audible gasps from the audience while she sang.

Gregory Barnett, Opera NewsApril 2009

In the role that is the heart of the central emotional triangle, Shagimuratova proves this production’s consistent triumph… Shagimuratova combines vocal splendor and dramatic conviction throughout her performance. She is ecstatic expressing her innocent love in the famed aria ‘Caro nome.’ Her radiant soprano dispatches the gorgeous lines and elaborate ornamentation with agility and flair, glistening in her top notes, virtuosic in her trills and flourishes. She is just as accomplished and affecting in later expressions of shame, sorrow and self-sacrifice, as her role turns increasingly tragic.

Everett Evans, Houston ChronicleApril 19, 2009

2008

Soprano Albina Shagimuratova was Rigoletto’s daughter, Gilda. She presented a wide range of expressive vocal effects and a big, bright coloratura that leans toward the dramatic. Her first act ‘Caro Nome’ displayed an agile and refined technique. Particularly striking was her handling of the more dolcezza passages, featuring a ravishing floated pianissimo. A fine actress, Shagimuratova imbued the role with a totally engaged passion. Her final death scene with her adoring and curse-plagued father was exquisite and moving.

R. Spencer Butler, Palm Beach Daily NewsDecember 14, 2008

Friday evening’s high points came courtesy of Albina Shagimuratova as Gilda. The Russian soprano has a pure tone and impressive technical arsenal…it was hard to fault her graceful cadenzas and precisely placed top notes. Shagimuratova sang with cumulative assurance and greater expressive depth as the evening progressed. Gilda’s narration to her father of her humiliation at the hands of the Duke was heart-breaking and Shagimuratova was remarkable in Act 3, with subtle dynamic marking and a staggeringly beautiful diminuendo. Her rendering of Gilda’s final moments was so moving and luminous, one could barely take a breath. Albina Shagimuratova surely seems poised for a major operatic career.

Lawrence A. Johnson, South Florida Classical ReviewDecember 13, 2008

But the highest musical point of the evening came from the singing of Shagimuratova, a Russian coloratura whose list of leading houses in which she is soon to appear suggests she is on the brink of a major career. Her work Friday night indicated why that is: This is a big voice, beautifully colored, and at ease in every part of her considerable range. She demonstrates an impressive command of that voice, too, exhibiting an admirable control of dynamics that allows her to go from all-out to whisper in exemplary service of the text, the music and the drama. Her Caro nome, the big showoff Act I soprano test piece, stopped the action cold as the audience listened to her navigate this florid, vocally treacherous aria. But she can sing it, and sing it well, and most importantly, she made it sound not like a final exam for which she has labored prodigiously, but natural, like the spontaneous expression of a sheltered young woman in the first destabilizing throes of romance.

Greg Stepanich, Palm Beach ArtsPaperDecember 13, 2008

LA BOHÈME AT THE HOUSTON GRAND OPERA

Puccini gave his character of Musetta plenty of opportunities to become the cynosure on the stage, and Shagimuratova is a force of nature to take advantage of every one of them. Whether blowing kisses from the rumble seat of her motor car, or tossing crockery from the tables of the Café Momus, this Musetta shows considerable talent for brash stage gestures and the broadly comic. The voice is a high soprano with a lush lyricism and agility – exactly what is needed for ‘Quando me’n vo’ soletta per la via.

Gary N. Reese, ConcertoNet.comApril 2008

DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE AT THE SALZBURG FESTIVAL

The Queen of the Night was a Russian with a mouthful of a name: Albina Shagimuratova. She sank her teeth into the Queen’s music — making it meaty, crunchy, and dramatic…She was formidable and exciting, as the Queen should be — a songbird with teeth.